Colston Likely to Stay Buried at All Saints as Bristol Rethinks Church Use
Edward Colston's remains are likely to stay buried in All Saints church in Bristol, the Dean of Bristol, the Very Rev Mandy Ford, has said. The Guardian
The statement, reported on 21 September 2026, settles for now whether repairs to the city-centre church would require exhumation. Exhumation means the legal removal of buried remains. All Saints on Corn Street has been closed since 1984. The Guardian
The burial and the building
The Diocese of Bristol, the regional Church administration for the area, is consulting on the future use of the building. The likely outcome is a space to reflect on the links between Bristol's port and the slave trade. That consultation, not a decision on the burial itself, is the active Church work now under way at All Saints.
Ford pointed to ecclesiastical guidance, the Church of England's rules on burial. She said the guidance starts from the principle that remains given Christian burial are not disturbed except in exceptional circumstances. Colston died in 1721.
Ford spoke from direct experience. She was closely involved in the reinterment, or reburial, of Richard III after his remains were found under a car park in Leicester when she worked there. The Guardian
Colston's history in Bristol
Colston made a fortune in the 17th century from trading in enslaved people from West Africa. He gave large sums from that wealth to charitable causes in Bristol. His statue in Bristol city centre was pulled down during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest and thrown into the harbour. Four people were charged over the toppling. Reuters Those four later pleaded not guilty.
After the statue was thrown into the harbour, windows celebrating Colston were removed from two Bristol churches. Bristol's concert hall was renamed Bristol Beacon. It had previously been called Colston Hall.
Bristol Cathedral has asked the public what should happen to a window dedicated to Colston. The window dates to the 1880s. BBC Ford had earlier told Premier it was too early to say whether a stained-glass window linked to Colston would be removed.
Repairs and consultation
The question about All Saints came up again as repairs were about to start on the unused city-centre church. The church is believed to be Colston's burial place. The consultation on the future of All Saints, Corn Street was commissioned in 2024 and carried out by outside consultants. Diocese of Bristol The first stage identified several possible future uses for the historic building.
The broader context here is how institutions handle difficult heritage when burial law, public memory and empty buildings overlap. Leaving remains in place while changing how the building is explained avoids both exhumation and continued celebration. The focus shifts to curation and access, to who helps tell the story of the port and its profits, and to whether a reflective space can acknowledge both Christian burial and enslavement without treating them as equal.
Looking at what this could mean for others, the All Saints process may offer a procedural example. Outside consultants, staged consultation and a presumption against disturbing burials give other dioceses and councils a framework to refer to when memorials, burials and building plans intersect. The test will be durability, whether the final use holds up to scrutiny from descendant communities, heritage experts and parish bodies, and whether it clarifies the Church's role as caretaker of buildings with painful history.
